Shipping carton for crown capped bottles



June 21, 1966 N. LECH SHIPPING CARTON FOR CROWN CAPPED BOTTLES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 13, 1963 IIIIIIIIIIII: 'IIIIIII IIIIIIIIIII I I 11m INVENTOR.

\ JH'UENIK- June 21, 1966 N. LECH 3,256,983

SHIPPING CARTON FOR CROWN CAPPED BOTTLES Filed Dec. 13, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 N VENTQR 17 1 8 zvmq049 4505/ 13 37 BY United States Patent 3,256,983 SHIPPING CARTON FOR CROWN CAPPED BOTTLES Nicholas Lech, 108 Central Ave., Brooklyn 6, N.Y. Filed Dec. 13, 1963, Ser. No. 330,444 Claims. (Cl. 206-65) The present invention relates to a shipping carton and more particularly to a reusable unsealed shipping carton for crown capped bottles such as those containing beer or carbonated beverages.

The top or cover of the shipping carton of the present invention is provided with a series of inspection apertures, one aperture being located directly above each bottle. Normally, the top of the crown cap of each bottle lies within an inspection aperture and is slightly under flush with respect to the upper surface of the carton. These inspection apertures make it possible to ascertain at a glance whether or not there is a bottle missing from the carton without the necessity of opening the carton. Moreover, the presence of an uncapped bottle will be noticed immediately.

When the carton is used for returning empty beer or soda bottles, it will be immediately observed if there is an improper bottle in the carton which is being returned. For example, if the product is bottled in brown glass bottles, the presence of an undesired extraneous green or clear glass bottle will readily be detected before the carton is returned to the brewery or bottling plant. Brewers and other bottlers sufier substantial losses in revenue through the inadvertent acceptance for return of bottles which are not reusable because the glass is the Wrong color or certain bottles are otherwise identifiable with a different bottling organization. When the bottles are shipped and returned in closed cartons, the return of unusable bottles causes a substantial operating loss. The

inspection apertures permit unusuable bottles to be detected without opening the carton, yet all of the advantages afforded by the protection of a closed carton are obtained.

The inspection apertures, particularly at the ends of the carton, make it possible to detect a broken bottle near either of the two hand openings. If the tops of the crown caps are correctly positioned, a worker may place his hands in the hand openings with confidence that he will not be cut by broken glass.

Another aspect of the invention involves the provision of a series of shallow circular locking recesses in the bottom of the carton, one recess being located directly below each bottle. During storage, shipment and bandling, cartons containing capped bottles are stacked one on top of another. The cartons are compressible so that the crowns of the bottles in the lower car-tons are caused to protrude upwardly into the locking recesses of the upper cartons. This action locks the cartons against sliding. The crowns of the bottles in the top cartons or unstacked cartons will remain slightly under flush with respect to the upper surface of the carton so that there is no interference with thestacking or handling of the individual cartons. 1

In a modified form of the carton, a corrugated or undulatory bottom surface is provided. The corrugations extend transversely of the carton to increase frictional resistance against longitudinal movement. When placed on conveyorbelt, the carton will resist longitudinal slippage, lateral slippage being prevented by the usual guide rails at the sides of the conveyor.

The invention will be better understood from the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof.

Referring to the drawing:

embodying the invention, the carton being shown in its unsealed closed condition and partly broken away to illustrate details of construction.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary bottom perspective view 5 of the carton shown in FIG. 1.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary sectional view in elevation taken along the line 33 of FIG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view in sectional elevation taken along the line 44 of FIG. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view showing a group of filled cartons in stacked relationship, the view being partly broken away to illustrate the operation of the locking apertures.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view in sectional elevation taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 5 showing the relationship between the crown cap of a bottle and one of the inspection apertures for an individual unstacked carton or a top carton of a stack.

FIGURE 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 taken along the line 77 of FIG. 5 showing the upward protrusion of the crown cap into a locking recess when the carton has become one of the lower cartons in a stack.

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged fragmentary view in sectional elevation similar to a view if taken along the line- 88 of FIG. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows, but showing a modified form of construction for the bottom of the carton which includes the provision of trans-- versely extending corrugations.

Referring to FIG. 1, the carton, which is designated generally as 10, is formed from a unitary blank of fibre board. Conveniently, the thickness of the board may be about one-eighth of an inch for a carton which is to hold twenty-four twelve-ounce bottles. The bottom is formed by two lower bottom panels 11 folded laterally inwardly from the bottom edges of the side panels 12 and two upper bottom panels 13 folded longitudinally inwardly from the end panels 14. The upper bottom panels 13 overlie the lower bottom panels 11- and are secured thereto by a suitable moisture resistance adhesive to form a two-layer or two-ply bottom. An edge portion of one of the side panels 12 is joined to an underlying longitudinal extension of one of the end panels 14 by a row of staples 16, the other edges of the end and side panels being integrally joined along vertical fold lines 17 of the blank.

- There are two top cover panels each of which is designated generally as 18. Each co'verpanel 18 is connected along a horizontal fold line 19 of the blank to the upper edge of one of the side panels 12. A series of longitudinally extending aligned slots or cuts 20 is formed along each fold line 19 to weaken the fibre 'board and facilitate bending along the fold lines 19. Each cover panel 18 consists of an upper layer 22 and a lower layer 23 and the layers 22 and 23 being secured together by a suitable adhesive to form a two-ply cover panel. The lower layer 23 is an integrally formedextension of the upper layer 22, the two layers being joined together by a vertically extending inner edge portion 24 and an inclined inner edge portion 25 forming a hollow longitudinally extending stilfening edge portion 26 for each cover panel 18. a

The top edges of the end panels 14 are folded inwardly to provide a three-ply reinforcing section 28. Immedi ately below each reinforcing section 28, there is a hand opening 29 for handling the carton. When the fingers of a person are inserted in one of the hand openings 29, the hand will grasp the three-ply reinforcing section 28 so that-there is no danger of tearing the carton. The stiffening edge portions 26 of the cover panels 18 are shorter than the cover panels leaving projecting end Patented June 21, 1966 edge portions which engage and rest upon the tops of the reinforcing sections 28 when the cover panels 18 are in their closed positions. Ordinarily, the cover panels remain closed by gravity, no adhesive or other closure means being provided.

A divider 31 rests on the bottom of the carton 10 and and is formed of interengaging laterally slotted strips of cardboard of suitable thickness to prevent lateral contact between adjacent bottles 33. Each bottle 33, when filled, is closed by a conventional crown cap 34.

The carton 10, as illustrated, is arranged to hold twenty-four bottles arranged in mutually perpendicular rows consisting of four longitudinally extending rows of six bottles each. The divider 31 defines a series of bottle positions which assure the correct positioning of each individual bottle 33. There is a series of twenty-four circular inspection apertures each located and centered directly above the center of one of the bottle positions defined by the divider 31. The diameter (about 1% inch) of each inspection aperture 35 is slightly greater than the diameter (about 1% inch) of the crown cap 34 with which it is associated. Each inspection aperture 35 extends completely through the upper and lower layers 22 and 23, respectively, of one of the cover panels 18.

As shown in FIG. 6, the crown cap 34 is slightly under flush with respect to the upper surface of the upper layer 22 of the cover panel 18. This arrangement facilitates simultaneous observation of the tops of all of the crown caps. If a cap should be missing, this will be clearly apparent, even when viewing the top of the carton from an oblique angle.

In the bottom of the carton 10, the lower bottom panels 11 have a series of twenty-four circular locking recesses 37 formed therein. The upper bottom panels 13 which overlie the panels 11 are imperforate. This causes the locking recesses 37 to be shallow as determined by a single thickness of the fibre board from which the carton is formed. Each of the locking apertures 37 is centered directly below the center of a bottle position as defined by the divider 31. The diameter (about 1 /2 inch) of each locking recess 37 is greater than the diameter of the crown cap 34 by an amount sufiicient to permit the crown cap 34 of an underlying bottle to enter the recess 37 with minimum amount of eccentricity which is described in detail below.

It is customary to stack the cartons of filled bottles in the manner indicated in FIG. 5. The cartons are arranged in superposed layers 38, 39, 40 and 41 as shown. Each layer consists of seven cartons. In the top layer 38, three cartons 43, 44 and 45 are arranged side by side with their ends abutting the sides of two other cartons 46 and 47 which are placed end to end. Two additional cartons 48 and 49 are placed end to end beside the cartons 46 and 47. The length to width ratio of each carton is substantially 1%.:1. One dimension of the top layer 38 is made up of one length and two widths or a total of 3 /2 units. The other dimension is made up of two lengths or a total of 3 units. Thus, each layer is approxi mately square having a length to Width ratio of 3 /2:3.

The next lower layer 39 is similar to the top layer 38 except that the arrangement is reversed so that the three cartons which are side by side underlie two cartons which are end to end, and two cartons which are end to end underlie three cartons which are side by side. The arrangement is again reversed for layer 40 which has the same arrangement as the top layer 38. By reversing succesisve layers, an interlocking arrangement is obtained which permits the cartons to be stacked to a suitable height without danger of instability.

When the cartons are stacked as shown in FIG. 5, in all of the layers except the top layer 38, there will be a locking recess 37 located above each of the inspection apertures 35. Considering the cartons 47 and 49, the center spacing between adjacent bottles is uniform in each carton but the interpositionof two side panels 12 between adjoining rows'of bottles in the separate cartons disrupts the uniformity of spacing of the bottles in the two cartons with respect to the underlying cartons. In the underlying cartons, the weight of the superposed cartons causes the crown cap 34 to protrude upwardly, as shown in FIGURE 7, into the locking recess 37 which is located directly above the crown cap 34. Because of the eccentricity which is necessarily present when the caps of bottles in difierent cartons extend into locking recesses in the same carton, the diameters of the recesses 37 must be sufiiciently large to accommodate the resulting eccentricity. When adjacent bottles are in abutting cartons, two wall thicknesses are interposed but a divider thickness is omitted. If the center spacing of the locking recesses in all cartons is the same as that of the inspection apertures, the caps of the bottles in one carton may be eccentric in one direction and the caps of the bottles in the other carton may be eccentric in the opposite direction when the caps enter locking recesses in the same carton. This permits the total minimum eccentricity of two wall thicknesses less a divider thickness to be divided so that the bottles of each carton have one-half of the total minimum eccentricity but in opposite directions. In practice, the diameter of the locking recesses is dimensioned to accommodate an eccentricity which is somewhat greater than the minirnum defined above in order to provide a working tolerance.

Referring to FIG. 8, in a modified form of construction of the carton 10, the upper bottom panels 13 are fiat as previously described. Instead of flat lower bottom panels 11, corrugated lower bottom panels 50 are provided. The crests and valleys of the corrugations extend transversely of the carton and the upper surfaces of the upwardly extending crests are secured to the flat lower surfaces of the bottom panels 13 by a suitable adhesive. The bottom surfaces of the downwardly extending crests increase the frictional resistance of the carton to longitudinal movement as compared with fiat lower bottom panels 11 when the carton rests on a flat surface. This is advantageous for preventing longitudinal slippage of the carton when placed on a conveyor belt such as belt 53 described below, lateral slippage being prevented by the usual guide rails or other means (not shown).

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the structure which is herein shown and described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A package comprising: a carton; divider means in said carton; a plurality of crown capped bottles in said carton, said bottles being located by said divider means in regularly arranged mutually perpendicular rows; and a closable cover member for said carton having a series of circular inspection apertures formed therein, each inspection aperture, with said cover closed, being centered over the center of a bottle position defined by said divider means, the crown cap of each bottle being located at least partially within one of said inspection apertures with its top surface under flush with respect to the upper surface of said cover member with said cover member in its closed position.

2. A package comprising: a carton having rectangular bottom, end and side Walls; divider means supported by said bottom wall and defining a series of bottle positions for locating a plurality of bottles in regularly arranged mutually perpendicular rows; an openable top cover member for said carton, said cover member having a closed position, said cover member having a series of circular inspection apertures formed therein, each aperture, with said cover member in said closed position, being centered directly over the center of a bottle position defined by said divider means; a plurality of crown capped bottles in said carton, each bottle being located in one of said bottle positions, the crown cap of each bottle, when placed in said carton, being located at least partially within one of said inspection apertures with its top surface under flush with respect to the upper surface of said cover member with said cover member in said closed position, said bottom wall having a series of downwardly opening shallow circular locking recesses formed therein, each locking recess being centered below the center of a bottle position defined by said divider means, said carton being compressible whereby, when a plurality of cartons are arranged in stacked relationship, the crown caps of bottles in an underlying carton will be caused to protrude upwardly into appropriately positioned locking recesses of a carton directly overlying said underlying carton.

3. A carton according to claim 2, wherein said locking recesses are of a diameter suflicient to receive eccentrically positioned crown caps, whereby the crown caps of bottles in -a plurality of abutting underlying cartons may be received in the locking recesses of a single directly overlying carton.

4. A carton according to claim 2, wherein said bottom wall is formed of two layers, the lower layer having circular apertures formed therein and the upper layer being imper-forate, said circular apertures together with said upper layer defining said locking recesses, the depth of said recesses being defined by the thickness of said lower layer.

5. A carton according to claim 2, wherein said bottom wall is formed by upper and lower layers, the lower layer being shaped to define transversely extending corrugations, the upwardly extending crests of which are connected to the lower surface of the upper layer, the lower layer having circular apertures formed therein which define the lateral surfaces of said locking recesses, the upper layer extending continuously over the tops of said apertures to define the tops of said locking recesses.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,907,509 '10/ 1919 C'hamberlin 22942 2,100,227 11/19'37 Stoate et a1. 209-111.5 2,110,480 3/ 193-8 Barlow 206-65 2,324,905 7/ 1943 Chambliss 22944 2,344,852 3/1944 DEsposito 22944 2,408,159 9/ 1946 Bob 206-65 2,524,929 10/ 1950 Razek 209-111.5 2,583,672 1/ 1952 Storey 20665 2,939,625 6/1960 Synder 22944 X 2,955,707 10/ 1960 Foote 206-65 3,095,137 6/1963 Reynolds 22944 3,111,254 11/ 1963 Thyen 22944 3,118,592 1/ 1964 Nadeau 22944 FOREIGN PATENTS 406,511 3/ 1934 Great Britain.

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Examiner. 

1. A PACKAGE COMPRISING: A CARTON; DIVIDER MEANS IN SAID CARTON; A PLURALITY OF CROWN CAPPED BOTTLES IN SAID CARTON, SAID BOTTLES BEING LOCATED BY SAID DRIVER MEANS IN REGULARLY ARRANGED MUTUALLY PERPENDICULAR ROWS; AND A CLOSABLE COVER MEMBER FOR SAID CARTON HAVING A SERIES OF CIRCULAR INSPECTION APERTURES FORMED THEREIN, EACH INSPECTION APERTURE, WITH SAID COVER CLOSED, BEING CENTERED OVER THE CENTER OF A BOTTLE POSITION DEFINED BY SAID DIVIDER MEANS, THE CROW CAP OF EACH BOTTLE BEING LOCATED AT LEAST PARTIALLY WITHIN ONE OF SAID INSPECTIN APERTURES WITH ITS TOP SURFACE UNDER FLUSH WITH RESPECT TO THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAID COVER MEMBER WITH SAID COVER MEMBER IN ITS CLOSED POSITION. 